Finding Musashi
by Tsuroku
Summary: (A short story I didn't finish, but eventually will, about PS online.)


INTRODUCTION  
  
(So the idea, here, is that this fan fic is after the main fan fic I write for the contest. This fan fic will be like "Part 2", and will be the real one, and long, and stuff...)  
  
Metal upon metal was what dominated the sounds in the ring. The clanging noises seemed to happen in a sort of rythym. They did not happen quite frequently, and fast, but more slower, and strong.  
  
"They are just children, Master Setsuza. But, you must see it in the way they fight. You may have taught them this sparring style, but look. Can you see the power coming from them? Can't you see it?"  
  
Kojiro and Musashi were both seemingly flowing with the same raw amount of power as they struck out in vicious slices at each other, only to clash in a sparking metallic strife. They held their curved swords above their heads, pointing towards either's face, in a manner that they resembled the claws of a preying mantis.  
  
"Yes I can, my lord Yoshitsune. I can feel it in the air. I can see it in the sword's artistic forces upon one another... That is why we must train them harder then?"  
  
Yoshitsune had paused for a moment and returned with but a nod.  
  
"Then it is done then..."  
  
At the end of that sentence was a bright flash. Musashi had opened his eye lids, very swiftly, and brought himself to sit up. He looked to the left and then to the right, and let out a relieving sigh as he realized he was not on his home world, but on Ragol.  
  
"These dreams...." he whispered softly.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
"Finally... I think her audio sensors have finally picked up."  
  
Darkness. Complete darkness.  
  
"Our hard work has paid off, Elly. Now, instead of being a heaped mess, we got an audio input machine."  
  
"Oh come on, Teem. Don't be so pessimistic. All this means is we're closer to fully repairing her."  
  
It was like being paralyzed and blind at the same time. All she could do was listen.  
  
"Oh, wait. The computer has finally began to reboot her. I think her optical sensors might click in."  
  
Suddenly, the endless black turned into a sort of screen, displaying numbers, and letters, at random, it seemed. Then, finally, dominating all of the characters on this screen, was the word 'Reboot' followed by 'Ok'. At this point, the screen flash and blinked, and a blurred, sketchy view came into focus.  
  
"Her optical sensors should be alright, now. She should see us. Can you hear us?"  
  
She tried to nod, but couldn't. Speaking also didn't work.  
  
"Cal's saying she's trying to output what we asked but her systems are too fried. The systems still need time to boot fully up, too."  
  
"Well, I know that Cal can help that along. Get him going, I don't have all day with this. I have other androids to fix."  
  
Suddenly, she felt something invade her robotic mind. It was a strange entity. She wanted it out. She didn't want anything to come into her mind, it was hers.  
  
"She's not accepting it."  
  
A women's face lowered down to her optical recievers.  
  
"I'm going to have to ask you not to worry about what's going on inside you. Just accept it and welcome him in."  
  
At that point, more numbers and letters scanned behind the view of the women's face, inside her mind.  
  
Now, she could begin to think. It was her thought systems, coming to light. All of the numbers and letters were that system booting up. Thinking to herself, she accepted the women's words, and let the program into her mind.  
  
"Ok, good. Cal's in."  
  
More numbers and letters. She was reading them this time, helping them to process themselves.  
  
"Her movement and speech systems are almost online. Her overall systems are at 80%. She's almost back."  
  
"I..."  
  
The women looked back down at her.  
  
"Yes, then you're speech system is operational?"  
  
"Ye...Yes."  
  
"Wonderful. Can you tell me your name?"  
  
"It's...."  
  
The android began running through all of the files she could access in her mind.  
  
"Ma...Maria."  
  
Teem nodded, asking, "What's your serial number?"  
  
Maria blinked, and looked down, then back up.  
  
"Serial number? File not found."  
  
Teem sighed. "Get Cal to find one."  
  
After a little while, Elly looked back to Teem, from her terminal.  
  
"Cal didn't find one either. That's very strange. All androids are fitted with one."  
  
"Maybe it was deleted?" Teem quickly bent down and looked into the Maria's eyes.  
  
"You're master's name?"  
  
Maria seemed to space out and then returned, saying," Musashi! MUSASHI!"  
  
She reached up and began to claw at Teem's frame, crying out Musashi's name. Elly ran over to Teem and pulled Maria off of him. Maria fell back down on the metallic bed, and became motionless once more. Elly stood up, helping Teem to his feet, and whiped the surprised look off her face.  
  
"What the hell was that?"Teem asked, frightened.  
  
"Cal?" Elly asked.  
  
Over the speaker, above Elly's terminal, a soft voice began to speak.  
  
"Basically, I belive it was something that was in her mind before she died. It was very severly desired, apparently, and even now, she still has a level of desire of this topic."  
  
"Well, then. Let's try and find out who this guy is."  
  
********************************  
  
Later on, they found out that the problem was that the android had gone through heavy trauma. Plus, she did not desire Musashi, but she needed him. Very strange, indeed, that androids knew the difference between desires and needs. They logically know what they do need, while at the same time they may desire things.  
  
So it was indeed quite strange that an android would need a human.  
  
Teem had taken it upon himself to go to the resident's database-center and look up who this Musashi really was.  
  
"Musashi, Musashi... Nope, there's nothing," The database administrator said, looking up to Teem.  
  
Teem seemed baffled.  
  
"What? How... Did you check just the hunters database? Maybe he's registered as a different resident?"  
  
The administrator snickered.  
  
"Now come on, Teem. I checked the whole database at once. The database has no record of anyone by the name of Musashi. So can you leave now? I got business to attend to."  
  
This left Teem out of choices.  
  
"What? Are you serious? Maybe it was a hallucination?"  
  
The speaker blinked to life, saying, "Elly, if this android had any hallucinations, I would have detected the program generating them. I assure you that Musashi is real. I have even had the liberty of digging into her memory bank and I have a picture of him."  
  
Teem had come back to the lab an hour after he left, with the bad news.  
  
Cal printed out the picture, and Elly gave it to Teem.  
  
"Woah... he's creepy."  
  
The picture showed a young man, who was quite handsome and somewhat feminine too. At the same time, though, his skin was a pale white, almost the color of paper. His eyes were hidden in shadows, and seemed to be completely black anyway. His hair was black and down to his shoulders, split in the middle, coming down over his ears.  
  
The picture seemed to pierce into Teem's mind.  
  
"Why does she need this guy?"  
  
Elly shrugged.  
  
"I don't know, Teem."  
  
"May I suggest something?"  
  
Elly and Teem turned to the speaker.  
  
"Shoot."  
  
"How about we hire a private investigator?"  
  
Chapter 2  
  
That's when they came up to me. The girl was a newman hunter, it seemed, but she wore glasses and didn't look like the hunter type. She looked more like a computer programmer or something.  
  
The other guy... well, let's just say that I could smell that he was from the lab a mile away.  
  
His long white lab-coat had reminded me of Mome's, but he wasn't as fat as the guy. He also looked like he could have been a hunter himself.  
  
Irony, I guess.  
  
"Teem and Elly? Nice to meet you two," I had said, shaking their hands.  
  
They gave me all the info, a disk containing all of the information they had, and guaranteed a hefty reward.  
  
"Mr. Quorvar, I'm sure we have more money than you'll need."  
  
"I told you," I said," That my name isn't Quorvar anymore. It's Smith. I'm Bryan Smith."  
  
"Alright, alright. Just tell me, are you going to do your best?"  
  
I pondered for a moment, and replied, saying, "Yes... Yes I will. I have a lot of debts to pay off and business is slow these days. Don't worry," I continued, lighting a cigarette, " I'll find this 'Musashi' before you start your little V.R. program, O.K.?"  
  
"Good, good."  
  
And with that, they left, paying my pre-pay of 200,000 Meseta, with a promised 400,000+ post-pay.  
  
I looked to my mag, and began petting him. He was a red RATI rare mag. I got it from a friend, long ago when I was hunter. These days, I'm no longer a HUmar, and I don't even use any HUNTER-class weaponry. All I have is my bravace, my RATI to keep me company, a lighter and cigarettes, and the everyday reassurance that I might die.  
  
A couple minutes after feeding RATI a few dimates, I began searching through the disk's data files for a bit of information on the case.  
  
The disk had valuable information. It talked about the strange human-like condition of the android named Maria. It also commented on the fact that they found Maria in pieces at the ruins. Also, Maria seemed to be missing a serial number.  
  
"How very odd..." I thought to myself, leaning back in my computer chair.  
  
What else was there? I kept looking, past all of the Hunter registration information, which was useless to me at the moment, and finally came up to the part about this strange Musashi character.  
  
"So... He carries an agito, but he wears it in a sheath, instead of putting it in a capsule... That could be useful. What kind of agito is that do you think, Rati?"  
  
My mag seemed to shake its head, sprawling out in the desk, sleepy.  
  
"Yeah, I don't know either. All of these pictures that they dug up are in black and white. You'd think they'd have color printers these days."  
  
Rati seemed to glare at me when I said that.  
  
"Ok, fine, I know, don't get all snappy with me. That's probably the color that came up in her sketchy broken down hard drive. I wonder what she was doing in the ruins, though. She seems to be a little too weak to be there. And why does she need this Musashi?"  
  
So that was it. Grabbed my trenchcoat and my matching tan hat, Rati, and all of my precious travelling belongings, and headed for the Pioneeer 2 slums.  
  
"Rati, if you ever wanna find anyone, just start gossiping around in the Pioneer 2 Slums."  
  
I did have a hovering vehicle, despite my debts. Well, actually, I didn't owe any money back for my vehicle because I won it by gambling.  
  
Even so, no one would dare take their vehicle down into the slums. It would be ripped to shreds in mere seconds, even with you in it. So, I caught a ride on a public tram, and got off in the engineering sector of the Pioneer 2. This was the only way in or out of the slums. This is where the great big 'stairway to hell' was.  
  
Well, that's what they called it, anyway. A graffitied, torn up, old freight elevator that went down a billion stories down to the hell bitten slums. It was never morning, there. There were barely any streetlights that were working. The only lights that did work, were the ones on the buildings, meaning you shouldn't ever go anywhere but where buildings are, except, of course, the alleyways, which were also pitch black.  
  
Rati seemed to cover behind my neck.  
  
"Come on, Rati. Don't worry. If I get beat up, you're the one who has to unleash the photon blast, right?"  
  
I chuckled to myself as Rati began to shiver with fear.  
  
We were walking down this street, slowly, and not suddenly, trying not to glance at the horrible surroundings. We were stared at, obviously, and we knew that if we were to stare back, they'd kill us. I thrust my hands into my pockets as I continued down the road, grasping my bravace tightly in my right hand.  
  
Finally, we stopped at what looked like a bar. It was called the "Bar of the 3 candles," because of its great big three candles that lit inside. They were so big that they couldn't ever be nocked down, and if they were to be nocked down, they'd smash anyone with tons of weight. Besides, they were bolted into the floor.  
  
I walked inside and passed the dance floor. The hooligans and poor folk stared at me as I sat down on one of the stools.  
  
"And what's a rich folk like yerself doin in the lonely Bar of the 3 Candles?" The bar tender asked, looking in hunger at the quivering rati.  
  
"Just want to take a load off, is all. That'll be 1 hard tomb, on the rocks," I said, playing it cool.  
  
The great big half-robotic bar tender licked his lips, finally looking away from Rati, and pooring the drink.  
  
"Hey there, Jack. What's that ya got there? A toy?" One of the people next to him asked.  
  
"No, it's my friend, Rati," I responded, petting my mag.  
  
"Oh, ho. Rati? He's a m..m...-"  
  
"-A mag, ya dimwit! Hah, this here's one o' dem hunters, ain't it?" Another yelled out.  
  
"YEah! He's a pretty boy, two, ain't 'e!?"  
  
Oh no,I thought to myself, I guess the peaceful way out of this isn't gonna work.  
  
"Hey, show me one of yer moves, won't ya?" Another said, grabbing my arm.  
  
I looked up, into his eyes, saying, "I'm not a hunter, anymore, so lay off."  
  
He stumbled back in fear.  
  
"Hey! Don't be such a cry baby! Let's get him!"  
  
I grabbed out my bravace, but not in time. They hit my hand, and the gun slid to the wall.  
  
-End of Chapter 2  
  
Chapter 3  
  
The wind flowed like an endless river. It seemed to caress him and the environment around him as he walked along the forests of Ragol. The monsters had been smart enough to mind their own business, such as hunting other animals, or hunting Hunters.  
  
It wasn't sunset, just yet, and the stronger monsters were merely hiding at this point in time. Once the Bartles, Barbles, Gulgus's, and the rest of the such came out, Musashi would finally be ready to train.  
  
At sunset.  
  
************************************  
  
SLAM! A wooden table snapped in two as one of the thugs in the bar crashed through it as if it were glass. Bryan dove towards his bravace, but at no avail. The bartender caught him mid-air and threw him towards the opposite wall.  
  
Suspense held Bryan's heart still as he neared the wall. Once the suspense ended, Bryan found himself outside of the bar. He barely felt the metallic wall he smashed through. It was the hard metallic floor that he felt as his bones crumbled on them.  
  
The thugs, at this point, were all fighting each other. It was chaos. Bryan jumped back up, angered, and looked to his scorpion-like mag.  
  
"Rati, it looks like I'll just have to convert to my old hunter ways, doesn't it?"  
  
He jumped back in the bar, angry. It didn't interrupt the fight, though. The nearest thug decided to try and punch Bryan's face. The thug's fist was just about the size of Bryan's head, but he remarkably wasn't scared. He dodged under the punch and came back up with his own punch to the thug's chin, sending the thug flying backwards into the bar.  
  
Bryan pummelled his way through the thugs, towards his bravace, smashing through one with his fist, another with his heel, and another with his head.  
  
He grasped the bravace hard, and turned back around, pointing it at one of the thugs.  
  
"Freeze! All of you! Stop!"  
  
The chaos seemed to stop in time as the thugs all glanced at the strange pistol he held in his hand. It looked like a suppressed gun, only it emitted golden photon shots.  
  
"Alright, Jack. Now don't shoot us, okay?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, don't give me that bullcrap. I only came here to ask you guys for some information."  
  
"Hah! I think you've earned it, right?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess so. Who is Musashi?"  
  
The bar suddenly went silent.  
  
"M...Musashi? You mean the samurai Musashi?"  
  
"The Musashi? What do you wanna know about that creepy guy?"  
  
"Yeah! He's a tough-guy, ain't 'e!? He's killed a few people down here with one punch, that guy."  
  
"I heard that he's a demon!"  
  
"Woah, woah, woah, calm down. Where can I get some real information?"  
  
That question lead my down the street to a dark house that seemed as if it should be vacant. I walked up to the door and knocked four times.  
  
No answer.  
  
I knocked several more times, but still, no answer.  
  
I stood there, waiting, knowing that the person inside was looking at me through the peephole.  
  
"Hey, come on. I don't wanna wait out here all day. Is your name Soorockoo?"  
  
A low chuckle came from the other side of the door.  
  
"It's Tsuroku, you blasted fool. T-S-U-R-O-K-U. What do you want?"  
  
"I want to know who Musashi is."  
  
"Ah! Musashi! An old friend of mine and Kojiro's! What do you want to know about him?"  
  
"Where is he? And why doesn't his name show up in the hunter's database?"  
  
"Oh, ho ho... You're in deep, now aren't you?"  
  
"You could say that..."  
  
"Well, I just did, didn't I? Look, I'm not one to be a narc... I can't tell on the poor guy."  
  
"Tell? What are ya, 8 years old? Come on. That guy didn't do anything wrong, did he?"  
  
"Of course not... But he likes his privacy."  
  
"What do you know about an android... a RAcaseal... Maria."  
  
After a short moment, the voice replied, saying," Maria... I can't believe i'm hearing that name once more. Why don't you figure out who Chakra Gear is, first?"  
  
"Look. Tell me the information. If I don't find her master in time, they're going to kill her and recycle her parts."  
  
"That's not my problem, now is it? Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got tea to drink."  
  
With that, I heard no more voice. The only thing I could find in the Slums, now, would be just a whole bunch of rumors. Musashi, a demon? Kills people with a blink of his eyes? What kinda person was he?  
  
On my way up the freight elevator, I began to talk to rati.  
  
"There's too much mystery surrounding this guy, Rati. It's starting to make me feel like we should stop while we're ahead before we get hurt. That's a lot of money, though."  
  
Back at my headquarters, or humble apartment, I began to write notes.  
  
Musashi is Kojiro's friend. Musashi, Kojiro, and Tsuroku's name all seem to be from the same language. Maria is linked to something called 'Chakra Gear'. What is it? Musashi a demon? Musashi immensly strong? Is Musashi some sort of crime lord to be known in the slums?  
  
These were the things I would have to work on next. First, I had to find out what Chakra gear was. Next, I was going to run a background check on Tsuorku and Kojiro, to see if they both came up in any database. That would probably get me closer to the answer to these many questions.  
  
"Rati, I don't know about this case. We'll just have to keep going on later. For now, i'm going to take a break."  
  
***************************  
  
"Elly... Now that i'm able to walk again... Can I go for a walk?"  
  
Elly hesistated for a moment, and turned from her terminal to Maria.  
  
"Sure, Maria. Just take Teem with you, and stay in the lab, alright?"  
  
Maria nodded and looked up at Teem.  
  
"Do I really have to play babysitter?"  
  
Elly glared at Teem, who looked away and followed Maria out of the door.  
  
"That poor girl," Elly said, talking to Cal. "Bryan better find Musashi before the time runs out. I'd hate to see the military execute an android."  
  
-End of Chapter 3  
  
Chapter 4  
  
After I finished my cup of coffee and my meager-portioned supper, I decided it was time to continue on the search.  
  
I traveled back to the database that I went to before, to look up first-  
  
"Chakra gear? Chakra gear...chakr- AH! I got it."  
  
I raised a brow, saying," Alright, tell me."  
  
"Chakra gear is an old RAcast model... wow, he really is an old one... about... 10 years ago. The chakra line wasn't really much of a line, i'd say. There was only 10 made, and he was the... tenth one made. There was Chakra 00 to 05... then Chakra Ult, Chakra Beta, Chakra Blast, Chakra Tek, and finally, Chakra Gear, the ultimate in the Chakra line."  
  
"Is there more?"  
  
"Of course there's more. I guess these old RAcast were cheap rippoffs of, you guessed it, old RAcast models, and at the time, they obviously were top of the line. The Chakra company existed on an old space station, that most likely is now abandoned. Chakra Gear was sold to a wealthy family on a war- stricken planet. This family was known as the Wiin family, comprised of Benjamin and Elizabeth Wiin, and their daughter, Ashely. Chakra Gear, as it says here in the records, served as a butler, until the whole planet burst into war. He was then used as a protector. It also says here that they found a young boy lying on some grass, by himself. They took him in for a year or so... and then, they ended up being taken by refugee ships."  
  
"Really... Maybe that boy is Musashi?"  
  
"Don't jump to conclusions, Bryan."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Don't give me that. You know you changed your name."  
  
"And? So what? Why'd you have to bring that up?"  
  
"It's a pain in the butt to make a new citizen file for an existing Hunter, you know. Lots of paperwork to do."  
  
"So what? If it's legal, then I don't have any remorse for you."  
  
"Right..."  
  
"Look, is there anymore information on this Chakra gear?"  
  
"Yeah... let's see..." He said, turning back around in his swivel chair back to the terminal. "Well, it says here that the refugee ship that picked them up... well, it was attacked by space pirates. Chakra Gear was destroyed right here."  
  
"Hmm... Well, does it say anything about Ashely or the kid getting away?"  
  
"I would have to check Ashely's file, but she's not a resident here on the Pioneer 2."  
  
He turned back to me.  
  
"Wait... so how do you have Chakra Gear's file if he's never been here?"  
  
He smirked at me, and began speaking.  
  
"I guess there's some mystery around that. Someone must have filed that from inside the Pioneer 2. That means that, somehow, he's traced here. Maybe he's alive?"  
  
"Maybe... How about you run a check on a 'Kojiro'?"  
  
He turned around and typed on his keyboard.  
  
"Alright, I got his file. Says here that Kojiro was first filed as a refugee, odd enough, from that same planet. But, he was not on the same ship as Ashely and Chakra Gear. He ended up on a space station where he attended Hunter's training to become a 'Hunter'. He passed with a 120% in all fields of the training..."  
  
"He must be really strong..."  
  
"Yeah, that's for sure. He ended up coming to the Pioneer 2 for some sort of job. It says that on the way to Ragol he had a street brawl with an unregistered passenger. None of them won the brawl, and both dissappeared after the explosion on Ragol. Kojiro was found, later on, doing quests for some people. Turns out he was asked to join the Pioneer 2 military to catch some guy, but he was kicked out a month ago because of some classified incident. He's now still an active hunter, but he doesn't do many quests or anything. He's mostly noted sleeping at his apartment in the skyly section."  
  
"Hey, thanks, Steven."  
  
"Anything for an old friend."  
  
I left there with a new insight for this case, and, of course, the printed files of Chakra Gear and Kojiro.  
  
What was the next step to finding Musashi? Kojiro. So, I grabbed Rati from my apartment, got in my hover-car, and headed towards the skyly section. The traffic was heavy and I got there nearly an hour later.  
  
"I told you there'd be traffic. There's always traffic at this time."  
  
Rati shrugged and lay back down in the back seat.  
  
I had parked and gone inside the apartment building. I looked in the database and found his address.  
  
"Apartment RZ-99... Kind of sounds like the last one on the block, eh?"  
  
The worker only looked at me with a lifeless eye... creeped me out. I was at Kojiro's front door only a minute later, thanks to the fast elevator.  
  
I knocked a few times.  
  
There seemed to be a little bit of rustling inside, so I knocked some more.  
  
"Who is it?"  
  
"Private Investigator Bryan Smith, here. I just want you to answer a few questions of mine."  
  
"About what?"  
  
"About a man named Musashi. Do you know him?"  
  
"Musashi? Are you here just to bash me about that? You're another news reporter, aren't you?"  
  
"No, no, I told you. I'm a private investigator. I just want to find Musashi."  
  
After a bit of hesitation, the door was opened. It revealed a feminine yet stern looked man with long icy-blue hair. He was about as tall as me, and was wearing the regular-issue HUmar's uniform, with the colors of orange, white, and a bit of black.  
  
"You know, you remind me of Musashi a bit. You just aren't pale, now are you?"  
  
He invited me in, so I sat down on one of his chairs and accepted a cup of coffee.  
  
"So, you want to know about Musashi, do you? Well, you've got the right person. We both grew up together."  
  
"Alright, good. Now, who is he?"  
  
"He is Musashi Kemoni. His last name, meaning 'Demon Sword', from our old tongue of the nation, Atlas. Don't worry, you wouldn't know our world, or our language, it's a very distant land from here."  
  
"Ok, where is he?"  
  
"Probably on Ragol somewhere, but you'll never find him. He's good at not attracting attention to himself."  
  
"I see.... How come his name doesn't appear in the archives?"  
  
"Hah... That's because of the incident 1 month ago, Bryan. Not many people know about it because the government can't reveal such a thing. A lot people saw that incident, and a lot of people are being watched, even myself. I can't go into that, if you can understand. It's the reason you can't find him anymore."  
  
"Hmm... Interesting... Is there anything else you can tell me about him?"  
  
"Yes. Let's see... he is indeed half demon, but I still manage to match his power. We are actually both veteran samurai. We both ended up at the same refugee planet, with Tsuroku, but only me and Tsuroku were together. I think Musashi ended up with some family or something. Umm... Actually, I can list a few more people that could have more information about him. He eluded me these few years, aboard this ship. The only times I've met him were 2, and those were fights. Yes, but these people knew him well."  
  
So, back in my hover-car, I looked at the list, carefully, reading off the first few.  
  
Cid, Maria, KiX, Christyna..  
  
I couldn't help noting that Kojiro had told me that he had some connection to black paper.  
  
"This is getting more and more dirty as it goes along, Rati. We better start watching our backs," I said, as we neared home.  
  
-End of Chapter 4  
  
Chapter 5  
  
I thought that before checking out the list, I would go around and question some random people in the viridia area of the Pioneer 2.  
  
I started with the hunter's guild receptionist.  
  
"Musashi?" she said, fearfully. "He...Yes, I remember him. As a matter of fact, I've seen him a few times, asking for quests. He wasn't one to do quests, often, but... Well, actually, I remember this one time he began fighting someone right here in this room."  
  
Musashi had teleported from another ship, back to the Hunter's Guild room, just meet the face of an old friend, whom he called Tsuroku.  
  
"Musashi... Is it really you?"  
  
Musashi snickered and began to draw his agito.  
  
"Tsuroku. I didn't think I'd see you here, much less did I think I'd kill you in this room."  
  
Tsuroku pulled out a small stick-like object, which soon ignited out a golden-photon blade.  
  
Their battle began very quickly.  
  
Tsuroku jumped at Musashi with an overhead downward slice, in which Musashi merely sidestepped. Tsuroku was confused when his blade met the floor, instead of Musashi or his agito. He turned his head to Musashi only it time to see the foot that would kick him right between the eyes.  
  
The receptionist told me that Musashi had kicked Tsuroku so hard, in fact, that he went flying out of the Hunter's Guild doors and through the hospital doors. Then, according to her, Musashi seemed to vanish.  
  
"Well, thanks for your cooperation."  
  
After calling up steve and asking the location of the list members, I headed for an apartment in the virdia block.  
  
I knocked on the guy's door.  
  
"Cid? Is this Cid's house?"  
  
I was greeted by a young kid, about 11. He, apparently, was Cid.  
  
Cid had been training under Musashi for a couple of months, after the Dark Falz incident, and before the incident that sent Musashi hiding. I couldn't have hoped for a more compelling description of Musashi.  
  
*****************  
  
Cid watched in awe as Musashi picked up a booma by the head and crushed with his bare right hand. The boom fell, motionless, on the floor.  
  
"H..How did you do that?"  
  
Musashi laughed aloud and turned around to his disciple.  
  
"With practice, Cid, you can do the same. Now that the monsters in this area are cleared, I want you to repeat the laws of levels."  
  
Cid thought hard and long and finally came back with an answer.  
  
"The stronger you become, the higher a level you get... right?"  
  
"No, no, no, NO!"  
  
Musashi scowled at Cid and began explaining it for what seemed the 100th time.  
  
"You begin at level 1, which is the legal level of all Hunters starting out. All of the same class at level 1 are at the same power. Level 1 is the starting point for every Hunter, and every class of a Hunter. No two Hunters are the same, past level 1. Now, once you begin to fight, your power will begin to grow. There is a system, aboard the Pioneer 2, that ranks your power is it does officially grow. This is the level system. You are currently level..."  
  
After a second, Cid caught on.  
  
"Level 13."  
  
"That's right. What have you done in order to obtain such a level?"  
  
"I have fought the monsters on the surface of Ragol and in the caves below that."  
  
"Alright, good. Now, the level systems also prevents you from going to the different sectors of the areas of Ragol. These different sectors harbor stronger or weaker monsters than the others. What set of monsters cannot be avoided by this restriction system of the level system?"  
  
"Sunset to Dawn."  
  
"That's right. This is the time of the day that has been ranked, 'Ultimate.' At this point, the normal monsters that you and I know of will go into hiding while the stronger monsters emerge. These are such monsters are Bartle, Barble, and Gulgus."  
  
"Now, what else does the level system restrict?"  
  
"Certain armor usage, right?"  
  
"That's correct. The level system, though, does not restrict weapon or techniques usage. The weapons cannot be used until you can either pick them up, be able to aim with them at all, or be able to bind your spirit with the weapon. The same with the spell usage. Your spirit can only be at a certain strength before it can harbor certain level-ranked techniques, or certain techniques altogether. Now, will you remember this all?"  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
Musashi had also taught him about the weapons. How monsters had swallowed the capsules that contained the weapons, items, meseta, and armors of the pioneer 1. Once killed, these capsules would surface.  
  
Cid had also learned about the capsules themselves, how they worked. Meseta was stand alone, not in a capsule, but the weapons, items, and armor were different, but easy. Once opened, these capsules would then un-shrink the items inside them and warp them to where they would go on the user.  
  
Musashi had known about mags, as well. They were mechanical, but also seemed to be alive. They were very mysterious mechanisms that could only be understood by the heart.  
  
"You must pour your heart into your mag as you feed them. You must make the mag part of you. You cannot be an efficent Hunter without your mag. Remember this."  
  
If the mags cared about their master, explained Musashi, they would eventually help them out with a certain usage of photon energy.  
  
*************  
  
"Thanks, Cid. You've been a real help."  
  
I was getting real bored of this case. Nobody was driving me closer to the answer. I was beginning to want to quit until...  
  
I was walking down the street, at the time. I was taking a break from this case, a break from my thoughts. Just walking, no destination in my mind.  
  
And suddenly, I found myself on the ground. I didn't feel any pain, at first, until I watched the hover-car drive off into the distance and caught a glimpse of the blood trickling from my head.  
  
It was just then that I recalled what had happened. Someone had thrown some metallic object at my head at a quick speed and knocked me on the floor.  
  
I remembered the words.  
  
"You're getting too close to the truth!"  
  
And then, they were gone.  
  
-End of Chapter 5  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Finally... Sunset.... All of the creatures of the day began to subside into the bushes, trees, and the lush forest as the sunset rays of the sun hit the groun. They had left in fear of the creature that would emerge in any moment. Although, in all of the commotion, one rag rappy had fallen to the ground. Musashi, while up in a tree, watched the winged creature as it struggled to stand back up. The rag rappy knew it was too late, by then, because the floor in front of it began to open up.  
  
A large hole had emerged in the grass in front of it. By the time the rag rappy had stood up, a very large creature had come up from the hole, and stood before the bird-like creature. This new creature resembled a great big turtle. Its huge shell was smooth and a medium brown and its skin was grey. Its eyes glowed a bright red as it focused on the rappy in front of it.  
  
It picked up the rappy, who began to freak out, struggling to get away. The great big turtle only held the rag rappy with one hand, examining it. Now knowing that this rappy was one it had not seen in a long time, it seemed to smile. It opened its mouth and tossed the rappy in, burping out some feathers.  
  
Musashi hopped down from the bushes, landing some way to the side of this creature.  
  
"A bartle... just what I have been looking for."  
  
The bartle turned to Musashi, letting out a growl. Most of the time, bartles would gather in numbers of at least three and strike on any Hunters that decided to combat them. Musashi had caught this bartle alone. It had come ahead of its pack and a little bit early.  
  
Musashi pulled out an orange capsule and opened it. Soon, the capsule dissappeared and Musashi put his hand out in the air as if he were holding the hilt of a sword. Suddenly, energy began to gather to his hand and a sword did appear. The sword was purple and seemed alive. The blade was sharpened and thick, but the hilt seemed to beat like a heart. There was also an eye that blinked at Musashi. The eye was located on the handguard itself. This sword was known to be the dragon slayer and used no type of photon energy at all.  
  
The bartle began to walk toward Musashi, at an unusually quick pace, to some lower level Hunters. To Musashi, this bartle was actually quite slow. Musashi held the sword lightly and let it rest itself on the floor. He closed his black eyes as the bartle stood in front of Musashi, towering over him. It stood in front of the sunset. Musashi could only see the dark outline of the bartle.  
  
It was then that the bartle rose his claw in the air and brought it down on Musashi's face. Musashi fell down, onto the floor, sprawled out.  
  
********************************************  
  
I was back at my apartment at this point, holding an towel containing ice to the back of my head. The big object had knocked me clean out and some kind civilians in the viridia section had helped me to my feet and to my apartment.  
  
I was pretty pissed off and tried not to think about the throbbing bump on the back of my head.  
  
I began to think back to more of what Cid said, right then, pulling out my notepad.  
  
Cid had described Musashi as a demon, in battle.  
  
"He may have just been half demon, but when he fought... it was as if he actually was a full demon. And his mag just made it worse."  
  
Varaha on a guy who fought like a demon would make it worse. Varaha was a double-mag that looked a lot like wings. My mag, rati, was only a single mag that floated behind me. Double-mags were actually pairs of the same mag. This meant that varaha was two wings, floating closely to his back.  
  
I could only imagine his shadow on the floor. A dark figure holding a sword with two dark wings.  
  
Cid had also described to me a couple fights that he watched.  
  
One of them was against four goboomas. Goboomas were just like boomas, which were basically big walking dogs with sharp teeth, red-glowing eyes, and menacing claws, but only they were colored differently; the boomas had red and light-brown fur, while the goboomas had all light-brown fur. Plus, the horn on the goboomas nose was longer, not to mention that its head was a bit pointier.  
  
The goboomas had surrounded Musashi and began pummeling him like he was butcher meat. Cid thought it was over for Musashi until he heard the low chuckle. Soon, the chuckle had risen to a very loud evil laugh.  
  
Cid was confused. Why was Musashi laughing? He was begin cut smashed up?  
  
Cid's confusion was ended when one of the goboomas went flying into the air, landing with a hard thud that knocked it senseless. Musashi had backflipped away from the remaining goboomas. Enraged, the began running at him. He was ready for this, obviously.  
  
The first one that got to him tried to paw at him. Musashi dodged to the side and punched out at the gobooma. Cid watched in horror as Musashi's punch went through the Goboomas chest and out his back. Musashi pulled his fist back out and roundhouse kicked the gobooma in the face. After that, the gobooma's whole head landed before Cid.  
  
The other two goboomas had reached Musashi, right when he had punched a hole through the gobooma. They went righ to work at flailing wildly at Musashi. Musashi caught one of their paws and flipped that gobooma over his shoulder. He thrust his foot on the gobooma to keep him on the floor. The other gobooma was still clawing away at Musashi with the desire of his friend's freedom in mind. Musashi began laughing again as he grabbed both of the arms of this gobooma and ripped them off. The gobooma screamed in terror as Musashi picked him up with one hand and threw him across the way. It was pierced through the chest on a tree branch.  
  
The remaining gobooma squealed and roared out for freedom. Musashi began pushing his foot down harder and harder and harder until it had touched the floor. He pulled his foot out of the gobooma and shook it off, casting resta.  
  
He walked back to Cid, saying, "That was fun. But remember, Cid. Resta will keep you from death."  
  
He had been very serious with that last sentence, Cid had explained to me.  
  
About those Goboomas, I thought. Most likely, the kid could only go to the first difficulty of the forest. This would mean that even I could have done very well in that battle... but this guy seems to be stronger than me.  
  
I knew that Musashi obviously was a demon if he could take that much of a slaughter, but I suspected that the battle did hurt him plenty. His pride seemed to overcome the pain.  
  
***********************************  
  
Musashi's eyes opened as the bartle pulled his claw back once more. The bartle, with all its might, through its claw at Musashi, but to no avail; a loud clank echoed through the trees. Musashi held the blade of his Dragon Slayer against the claw of the bartle, in a power struggle.  
  
Musashi rolled to the side, letting go of the force that held the bartle's claw back. This made the claw slide off of the blade and hit the ground in a poof of dust. Musashi used his sword for support as he stood up and faced the bartle. It was already going to slice at him as Musashi backstepped right in time.  
  
"Is that all you got?" Musashi asked, laughing aloud.  
  
The angered bartle ran at Musashi and smashed into him with all his might. Musashi fell and slid all the way to a tree, bashing his head. The sword was on the floor by the bartle. It began to quickly walk toward Musashi.  
  
"I will not lose to you!"  
  
Musashi flipped up and ran at the bartle. Just as he neared him, he cartwheeled past a claw that hurtled toward his head. In the middle of the cartwheel, he picked back up his sword, and landed it, turning to face the bartle another time.  
  
The bartle turned back around to face Musashi and ran at him once more.  
  
Musashi was ready, this time. The bartle reared back and slashed out at Musashi, only to clash with the blade of the Dragon Slayer. Musashi span to the right, allowing the claw to slide off of the blade, and the blade to slide into the strong outer shell of the bartle.  
  
It spat out blood as Musashi pulled the blade out and stepped back. It roared out and quickly ran at Musashi, once more. Musashi stuck the sword out and the bartle was impaled once more. The bartle stepped back as Musashi took his blade out, once more.  
  
It was Musashi's turn.  
  
Musashi sliced three times, all horizontally. The first sliced off some of the covering of the bartle. The second drew even more blood, and the last opened the bartle's abdomin. It stumbled back as it tried to hold in its guts and finally fell down, dead.  
  
Musashi whiped the blood and guts off of the blade and fed them to the living sword he held in his hands.  
  
Musashi was bleeding, heavily, at this point, and seemed badly damaged. He gathered his soul together and began to cast resta. A light swirled around Musashi and his wounds began to heal. After yet another cast of the same spell, Musashi was only bruised. He re-capsuled his sword and looked around.  
  
He was gone by the time the rest of the pack had gotten there. All he heard behind him were the roars of sadness.  
  
-End of Chapter 6  
  
Chapter 7  
  
The next whole day would become the day in which I took the most notes in my entire life. In that same day, I would have done the most recording over the most people i've ever interviewed.  
  
It was a long day, indeed.  
  
I began to look over the beginning of the pages of notes, going over their names.  
  
First, we had Ash. Ash, just as everyone knew, was the hero of the Pioneer. He started as just, "The boy who wanted to get stronger." He would later become, "The strong man who had to train to be the best," and finally, gain the title of, "The hero."  
  
He had a lot of titles, but the fact remained that the quest files at the Hunter's Guild revealed that Ash had somehow found himself with Musashi in 2 quests.  
  
Second, we had a man named Bernie.  
  
If it must be known, Musashi had not participated in many quests. Still, though, he did do some quests. These scarce quests were the more important ones. There was one, though, that Musashi apparently went on that wasn't of much importance. He had to persuade a foolish husband that spending all of his money on weapons wasn't the answer.  
  
Another thing that I had also noted was that the files at the Hunter's Guild never mentioned Musashi ever filing to take the quests he was in. It was obvious that the evidence of him registering for the quests were deleted because of the post-filings of the other Hunters and people that had something to do with the quests.  
  
Right there, in the files, in plain black ink. MUSASHI. Each quest he was in, the other people that were involved had mentioned him there.  
  
It was as if he was a figment of their imagination. I knew, though, that he was a real person. It was obvious. I had to find out exactly how someone could delete such files.  
  
He must have been in some scolding hot water, I thought. This could have only been done by someone "high up".  
  
I stoppped spacing out and continued with listing the names of the Hunters.  
  
Bernie. He was actually a widely known RAmar, or human ranger... or, even, a human that used mostly guns, or ranged weapons.  
  
Bernie was, in some sort of sick coincidence, a close friend of Ash's.  
  
Ash had single handedly killed Dark Falz himself and came back to the Pioneer 2 looking like a tattered cloth.  
  
Why didn't Bernie go with Ash? Well, he just wasn't strong enough. He did, though, follow Ash into the Ruins a few times.  
  
Another thing to reflect on, at this moment, were the areas that could be accessed on Ragol. First, there was the area surrounding the central dome... the "surface." This area was known as the Forest. A dense forest, actually, populated by the weakest monsters.  
  
At first, the Hunters had gone around fighting the monsters in the forests. Once they finally got to the central dome, they had found a teleporter to a place below the dome. The dome could not be opened from the front, so the only other way in was from below. There was a freight elevator that went up into the dome.  
  
This brings us to the third interviewee.  
  
His name was Griffen. He was only 21, at the time. He had gone ahead of his party and went in the transporter alone. Once he went to the area below the dome, he was stopped in his tracks by a very large fire-breathing dragon.  
  
By the time his party had caught up with him, he was panting next to the fallen dragon, near death. This is how he became known.  
  
According to him, he never liked being around people. That's why he ran so far ahead of his party. That was the last time he was noted being with other people, other than some other guy. I wrote his name down... it was Teknique, or something.  
  
The area below the central dome also seemed to be an entrance to the second area of Ragol. Those were the caves. The caves had the second strongest monsters and harbored the next big monster. Quests would reveal that this strange, centipede-like monster, called De Ro Le, was created by the insane Doctor Osto.  
  
This monster was killed by none other than Kojiro. Kojiro gained a bit of fame from this, but only to be forgotten later.  
  
The end of the caves would show the entrance of the mines. The mines were a wasteland of crazed technology. There was some sort of virus injected into the system that controlled the many robot-workers of the mines. They went crazy and attacked all of the Hunters that went there.  
  
The viral system, Vol Opt, was destroyed by a party of four. I didn't catch their name.  
  
The mines would end and show a closed door. This door was sealed up and later opened by Hunters that stumbled upon the switches that kept closed the Ruins.  
  
I didn't want to get into thinking about the whole story of how the famed Red Ring Rico had left messages about everything, but I wanted to reminisce on the four different areas of where the Pioneer 2 would let people go to, on Ragol.  
  
The ruins revealed a great sealed away evil in which Ash would kill, by himself.  
  
Anyway, so I had interviewed Ash, Bernie, Griffen, and someone who seemed to have worked with Musashi in another quest, LJ.  
  
Plus, there was a lot of random people in the viridia streets. I listed them, too.  
  
I had also asked more people, but the ones I didn't list were without needed information.  
  
So, I found myself, at the end, with a paper with those names written down:  
  
Ash  
  
Bernie  
  
Griffen  
  
Porga  
  
Tanaka  
  
Reeve  
  
Angar  
  
Edward  
  
Sein  
  
Offocaus  
  
Yuu.  
  
"Oh kay," I said out loud, sighing harshly. "Let's get started."  
  
To better understand the case, I would have to better understand the subject: Musashi.  
  
I began to conspire which areas to map out first. In a conclusion, I ended up with his battle performance. The most information was in this field . I got to work, quickly, playing back tapes and reading page after page of notes.  
  
Ash, I thought, could easily be quoted for describing Musashi in battle.  
  
"The guy," Ash had said," was just... crazy. Actually, when I first met him, he had been a lot more powerful than me. I thought that we would have trained at the same rate, but I trained a bit quicker. We met, later, in the ruins, on a quest. We were both looking for the same thing, so I joined up with him. Even though we were at the same level of power, he was still remarkably stronger..."  
  
There was a pause at this point on the tape. I had stopped to try and intake the strange comment.  
  
"What do you mean by that, exactly."  
  
"It was like... Even though we were both as strong as each other, he could take the pain a lot easier than anyone else I knew, and much more than I. You see... We would be fighting and a monster would thwap him on the head and he'd fly across the room and smash into a wall. He would seem mangled but just stand right back up and start laughing. He would just cast his healing spell and run back at the monster as if nothing happened. He would do it until the monster died. He would never stop and he would get right back up fast, too."  
  
"Strange," I had said.  
  
"You know," continued Ash," Sometimes, after he took quite a beating, his mag would chime in and that's when the real Musashi would come out... You are aware of what a photon blast is?"  
  
I had thought for a moment and shook my head, muttering a 'no'.  
  
"Well, once a Hunter is attacked or attacks a certain amount of times, it adds up on the mag's photon energy. Once this energy finally reaches 100, the mag goes critical and is ready for the Hunter to pick which photon blast to use and when. A mag can learn up to three photon blasts and-"  
  
"Ok, ok, I remember now."  
  
"Alright... Well, anyway, his wing-like twin-mag had a photon blast known as Mylla & Youlla... What it does is increase your power... none would think too much of it, but... Musashi's mag not only increases the power of himself, but it seems to... bring out a demon."  
  
I had risen my brow, at this point, replying with a simple," Explain, please."  
  
"It seemed like his hair grew out a bit longer... His teeth became more jagged... His back began to sort of bulge out in two places as if wings were just ready to burst out... physical features... and, of course, his strength increased dramatically, and more dramatic, might I add, than what a normal Mylla & Youlla photon blast would do."  
  
I stopped the recorder as I began writing down some overall notes.  
  
Musashi takes as much damage as someone equal to his power but seems to not be much affected by the pain. He does have to cast resta meaning he isn't invincible and is indeed as strong as people that would rank beside him.  
  
His PHOTON BLAST, Mylla & Youlla, seems to make the half-demon side of him take over the half-human side of him.  
  
The random Hunter of the RAmar class, named Tanaka, also was quoted for his comments on Musashi in battle.  
  
"...I never actually fought along side him, but while I was on a quest, I had the liberty of stumbling upon him surrounded by monsters in the caves. Apparently at the time, these monsters were equal in power to him. They really bashed him up, you know; there was a lot of his blood on the floor in the caves... but he just kept getting back up and casting resta, always saying things like, 'Is that all you've got?', or ,' Come on, I know you're stronger than that!'. I know most people would have been overwhelmed with the pain... Maybe some inexperienced Hunters would die... but I know, if I was in such a battle, I would have had to back off a few times... He never did. He just kept getting up and running back at him like a fool..."  
  
I continued with the notes.  
  
Musashi's 'demon' seems the give him the ability to take pain like it is nothing. This is his strength. This is his special technique.  
  
And so, that was it. I knew why he was so strong. It was not because he was physically stronger than anyone... It was just because, even when he is so close to death that all he has left is a torso and and a head, he doesn't feel pain at all.  
  
I knew I couldn't have taken any pain like that. I also knew that most Hunters couldn't do such a thing, either. I knew, though, that some could.  
  
I stopped spacing out and got right back to work.  
  
-Chapter 7 complete (at 12:23 A.M., if I might add.)  
  
Chapter 8  
  
I had seem to have forgotten one thing: How did all of these Hunters meet Musashi? That was a valid question. I took out a fresh sheet for notes and my pen and went to work.  
  
First, with Ash.  
  
"Well, actually, the first time I met Musashi was because the objective of the quest he was on was to find me. I got jumped by a couple of wolves in the forests... Well, a disk was involved, too, but the quest's objective doesn't really matter..."  
  
"Right..." I had said.  
  
"I was a lot weaker, then, and Musashi was stronger than me... He was also accompanied by a very powerful android hunter named Kireek."  
  
"A HUcast?"  
  
"Yes, a HUcast... Anyway, I had to liberty to see both of them fight the wolves that had defeated me. Kireek was obviously very strong, but Musashi was also unusually strong..."  
  
I fast forwarded the tape a bit.  
  
"...the second time?"  
  
"Yes... As before, the quest's objective is not important... besides, you have the paperwork, right?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Anyway... I was much stronger, then... The ruins were a piece of cake... Even so, I met up with Musashi and we decided to embark on this quest once more. Musashi and I were both equal in power but he seemed... stronger. It reminded me about before, with Kireek..."  
  
I stopped the tape and wrote down the notes.  
  
Ash: Met Musashi 2 times. First, Musashi had saved Ash while with a HUcast named Kireek. Second, Musashi had taken the same quest Ash had and teamed up with him.  
  
Next was Bernie.  
  
"...Oh, did he? Well, he told me, before, about that Musashi guy... He told me a few times about that quest with Kireek and Musashi. He said something like, 'I will become stronger than both of them combined.'"  
  
"So, Musashi was a sort of inspiration to Ash?"  
  
"As was Kireek, mind you."  
  
"Oh... Of course... Let's get to our point, though. Bernie. How did you meet Musashi?"  
  
"Did you ever remember catching the story about the 'Gran Squall' on the news?"  
  
"Yeah... I remember that."  
  
"A lot of Hunters were on that case, but in actuality, Musashi and I were the ones who would solve it. We were searching for survivors of that ship and together, we found a friend of mine."  
  
"Who, exactly, was that?"  
  
"Her name is Rupika... Actually, she was a friend of mine... I don't want to speak about it."  
  
"Right."  
  
"So, while with Musashi, I-"  
  
I stopped and tape and wrote more notes.  
  
Bernie: Met Musashi on the Gran Squall incident.  
  
Griffen showed no happiness toward his meeting Musashi.  
  
"...That jerk solved the quest right when I was getting to it. I know I shouldn't have been jealous, but I wasn't having a good day. Just before he was going back in the telepipe, I jumped out and yelled out at him, issuing a challenge... All I remember is that look... His back was to me at the time, so all he did was tilt his head to the side so I could see his eye and the side of his grin. He said,' I don't want to have to kill you, sir. Please don't lower me to that level.'"  
  
I stopped the tape and wrote.  
  
Griffen: Met Musashi at the end of a quest. Musashi solved it and Griffen tried to fight Musashi. Battle never happened.  
  
The other Hunters would show similar notes.  
  
Porga: Met Musashi on Pioneer 2. Porga was being attacked by Android-hating activists and Musashi had been bored and saved Porga.  
  
Tanaka: Didn't meet Musashi but observed him in battle.  
  
Reeve: Met Musashi on board the Pioneer 2. Musashi had a little chat with Reeve at the bar.  
  
Angar: Met Musashi in the mines. Musashi was on a quest and Angar tried to go with him. Musashi declined, saying Angar was too weak. Musashi gave him a few meseta for his trouble.  
  
Edward: Watched Musashi kill his best friend. Was nearly killed by Musashi, himself.  
  
Sein: Teamed up with Musashi on a quest for only a minute. Musashi left him after he saw how weak he was.  
  
Offocaus: Observed a street brawl between Musashi and a very large RAcast.  
  
Yuu: A worker at the hospital, saw Musashi come in like tattered remains.  
  
I sat back and looked at the time.  
  
"I need a break, rati." He said, petting his mag and sipping some of his coffee.  
  
He had been piecing together his information for a couple hours straight and really needed a break. He headed down to a bar, closeby, and sat on the stool.  
  
I don't think i'll ever find this guy, He thought to himself.  
  
It was a few minutes later he finally looked to his left to observe a pretty girl.  
  
Her skin was tanned and seemed soft and beautiful. Her purple eyes sparkled with the light like crystals. Her facial features were obviously very nice. Her hair was in a ponytail and lay on the top of her back. She was a newman, so her ears stuck out a bit, but Bryan was not bothered by it.  
  
She quickly downed a shot of what Bryan guessed as hard liquor. As she did this, he observed her body, in which he judged as nice.  
  
"Hey, there," He said, smiling.  
  
She turned with a raised brow and an angered look.  
  
"Leave me alone," she said, quickly turning back to face front.  
  
He sighed and turned back, himself, gulping down some of his beer. The girl got up and started to leave, but she stopped.  
  
It was so sudden that it seemed strange, in the corner of Bryan's eye. He turned back around to see 6 men, dressed in black suits, black sunglasses, and black gloves. They were unarmed but Bryan knew that they packed a punch.  
  
"So, Aerin. I see we meet again."  
  
Bryan stood up and walked beside the newman girl.  
  
"Hey, hey, hey... is there a problem here?"  
  
"Huh? Who are you?"  
  
"Hah! I'm Private Investigator Bryan Smith, thank you very much!"  
  
Aerin pushed Bryan out of the way and he stumbled back a bit.  
  
"Don't mix yourself up in this, you fool!"  
  
At this point, all of the men drew their vulcans.  
  
"Aww, crap! Automatic weaponry!" I yelled out, throwing over a table and hiding under it.  
  
That's when the shooting began.  
  
Everytime I go to a bar... I can't ever enjoy a drink!  
  
-Chapter 8 complete  
  
Chapter 9  
  
The table was beginning to fall apart. Bryan looked over at the bar where Aerin had dove into, for cover. Most of them were focusing their fire on her, but only 1 of them was firing at the table that Bryan was sitting behind.  
  
He had pulled out his bravace and held it, it pointing toward the ceiling. The firing began again at his table and he waited for the right moment to pop out...  
  
Wham! He nailed the man's gloved hand that held one of the vulcans. He seemed to yell out in pain and two more of the suited men turned to his aid.  
  
"This guy shot me!"  
  
Aerin heard the voices and sighed, thinking, Men always have to try and play the hero.  
  
That's when the table started to burst into flames from all of the bullets fired at it. After all, it was made from wood.  
  
With that on mind, Bryan jumped out and rolled to another table. In the middle of his roll, he had grabbed the leg of that table and brought it down for more cover. He popped out again and shot one of the thugs right between the eyes. He fell back with a thud, dead.  
  
"You know, I should have been a RAmar," he said out loud, laughing.  
  
Aerin popped up with a red-glowing fist. Once she opened it, and pointed her palm at one of the thugs, a fireball flew out. It hit the thug in his hair, catching flame. He danced around, trying to extinguish the flame.  
  
Bryan saw an opening and popped out, about to shoot, only to see a stream of photon bullets flying toward his head. He backed off and hid again.  
  
That was close!  
  
The firing continued. The bar was metallic but all of the drinks on top of and behind it had been broken and were leaking atop Aerin. She hoped that one of the bullets didn't hit the flammable liquids.  
  
Before they started fighting back, though, all of the others in the bar had left. It was only Aerin, Bryan, and the thugs. What a party.  
  
Bryan waited for another opening and popped out, shooting, but missing. He hid back again.  
  
He pulled out his communicator and typed in a quick message, sending it to Aerin.  
  
Aerin got the message.  
  
'On the count of three, jump out, and we'll fight these guys Hunter style'.  
  
Bryan popped out again, beginning to count.  
  
"One!" He yelled out, shooting one of them in the gut.  
  
"Two!" He yelled, hiding back to dodge bullets.  
  
He then pulled out a weapon that was very rare, but Bryan had gotten it when he was down in the slums.  
  
It was easily referred to as a grenade.  
  
He pulled out the pin and threw it into the air. Once it was above them thugs, he popped out and shot it. After the explosion, he yelled out, "Three!"  
  
Aerin already drew her double cannon. She jumped out into an airborn cartwheel, while at the same time, spinning around her double cannon like a windmill.  
  
Bryan jumped out with just his hands and feet. There were only 3 left, so it was a piece of cake.  
  
Once Aerin landed, though, there was only one left; the double cannon had ripped its way through two of the thug's torsos.  
  
Bryan quickly got to work. The dazed thug put his dukes up, but not in time. Bryan slugged him one in his right eye. The next thing the thug remembered was a foot cutting through the air and mashing him in his left eye. He was out cold.  
  
Bryan turned to Aerin, but was shocked to see her close to him already. She glared at him as she pulled her double cannon up and stabbed downward at the knocked out thug, killing him.  
  
She put her double cannon away, tying it to her back.  
  
"I see you don't use those capsules, either."  
  
She laughed cynically.  
  
"You are a fool for fighting them. Now they'll be after you."  
  
"Who are they, exactly?"  
  
"Let's get out of here, first, shall we?"  
  
We were out of there at the right time; the military had gotten to the scene only seconds afterward.  
  
***************  
  
"Black paper... I know i've heard of them before."  
  
"Yes, actually. You probably heard about them on the news."  
  
"Oh! That's right... they're like some sort of mob-organization... they're like a gang, a black market, and everything else, aren't they?"  
  
"Yes, that's right. I have bad ties with them. It's a long story, and I would not like to get into it now."  
  
"Alright, alright... It's ok... Besides, i'm already on a different case."  
  
"A different case? You're a private investigator, right?"  
  
"Indeed I am."  
  
"And what, exactly, is this case?"  
  
"I've got to find an android's master before they kill her... and I don't have much time but a week left."  
  
"That's... sad..."  
  
"Yep... I gotta find this 'Musashi' guy A.S.A.P."  
  
Aerin stopped for a moment and then looked back up at Bryan.  
  
"Did you say, Musashi?"  
  
"Yeah... Why? Do you know him?"  
  
"Actually, I ran into him before. We're both connected to Black Paper in the same horrible way. My incident with them happened quite a while ago, and Musashi's was about 6 months ago."  
  
"Is that right? How did you run into him?"  
  
"Well... Black Paper was offering to forget about what happened before... I didn't believe them, which were the right instincts... It was just a trap. I went, anyway, thinking that I could do anything I wanted. I didn't have to listen to my big brother... Big mistake."  
  
"Yeah, I bet."  
  
"They captured me and I thought it was over... But, at the same time, they seemed to have captured Musashi, too. We were both there, waiting to die, but Musashi said something like, 'Ok, i've had enough of this. This is boring. I'm leaving.' I responded by saying..."  
  
"What do you mean, you're leaving!? You can't just leave this place. We're in a cell with metal bars and steel walls."  
  
Musashi had laughed aloud at this comment and looked deeply into Aerin's eyes.  
  
"Aerin... Do not doubt my power. We can both leave now. Right now."  
  
Aerin seemed to sink low from that look. It pierced through her soul and hit home. She was actually scared. The black orbs of evil stroke fear into anyone's heart, no doubt.  
  
"Oh...Oh kay..."  
  
"And just like that... He smashed through the metal bars, killed all of the guards he had to, and smuggled me and him out of Black Paper's Head Quarters. He took me to my home and left me in front and then just left..."  
  
"Odd."  
  
"Yes... Very... But that's how I know the guy. I hope it helps."  
  
Aerin had taken me back to my apartment, by this time.  
  
"You know... I usually hate people, but you seem like the kinda person that I can get along with. Maybe we can hang out again."  
  
"I'll look forward to it."  
  
I watched her walk away and went back into my apartment. I was beat.  
  
I sat back down in my chair and got right back to work, writing down some new notes about Aerin. On the side, I wrote:  
  
She's beautiful... and she want's to see me again. Don't forget  
  
-End of Chapter 9  
  
Chapter 10  
  
Back at my apartment, I began to research once again, but couldn't shake the thought of that girl, Aerin, out of my head.  
  
I laughed aloud while feeding my Rati some trimates.  
  
"I never thought a girl would really make such an impact, rati. How about you? Do you have a girlfriend?"  
  
Rati scowled at me and turned around to go back to sleeping or whatever it did...  
  
I sighed and went back to work.  
  
"So, I know how Musashi fights, I know that Musashi is actually half demon and it seems like he is on the verge of keeping the demon from taking over him... But his ties with Black Paper? I wonder what they are?"  
  
This question led me back to the database and back to Steven once more.  
  
"There's a bunch of information on Black Paper. Want me to just throw it on a disk for you?"  
  
I nodded and took it.  
  
"Oh, wait... Actually, I have someone I need you look up for me."  
  
"Ok... What's the name, man?"  
  
"Aerin. A-E-R-I-N."  
  
"Alright...She's registered as Pinkal... Says here she lives with a HUmar named Kento. They're apparently brother and sister but... wait, technically, they're not. She has ties with Black Paper, too."  
  
"Yeah, I know, just tell me what I need to know."  
  
"Alright, Alright... Jeez, calm down. Ohh, kay, now... Where was I... Aha! It seems that Black Paper took some of Kento's DNA and somehow used it to make Aerin. So, I guess that's why she's his sister. Umm... Black Paper let a family of mean forces raise her, which she ended up leaving, and she ended up befriending some black paper members thinking they were regular Hunters."  
  
Steve looked up to Bryan, saying," I guess it was some sort of intricate plan."  
  
I looked, emotionless, at Steve.  
  
"I know, man... I'm not stupid. Keep going."  
  
After a moment of staring, Steve finally broke off and looked back at his terminal.  
  
"Ok... Well, it seems that the Black Paper people were trying to toughen her up by beating her senseless, but that's when Kento and his group of buddies jumped in and saved her. That's about the end of it all."  
  
"I see... Well, thanks."  
  
He threw that data on the same disk for me and I went back to my apartment.  
  
That's when I caught eye of a different list of Hunters.  
  
"AW, CRAP! I can't believe I forgot about this list!"  
  
It was the list I got, before, from Kojiro. It still read:  
  
Cid  
  
KiX  
  
Maria  
  
Christyna  
  
"These people really knew Musashi. How could I forget this blasted list!?"  
  
I sighed and decided to visit them later, after I assembled some more notes.  
  
Musashi's connection with Black Paper was simple. Musashi had accepted a strange quest in which a twin sister wanted to get back her twin sister. It turned out that the girl had been trapping Hunters down in the Mines and then giving them over to some shadowed unknown figure who would then kill them and take all of their items.  
  
Musashi had easily overcome all of the Black Paper Thugs and the girl and brought her back. The Hunters were never found, obviously because of their deaths.  
  
I stopped for a moment and reflected on a short conversation with Aerin on the way up to my apartment.  
  
"So, why did those thugs in the bar die, instead of go to the hospital like everyone else?"  
  
"Every Hunter recieves a section ID badge, correct?"  
  
I had nodded.  
  
"Well, in these badges are a type of... locator, or alarm. Once the Hunter dies, the alarm flickers on and a hospital teleports you there and revives you. It's as simple as that. Moon Atomizers can also revive you, once your dead, correct?"  
  
"Right."  
  
"Well, it's the same type of thing. Now, all Black Paper members carry a strange scrambler. It's embedded into their bodies, you see. The scrambler deactivates all of these alarms in a certain radius. So, when those Hunters were killed by Black Paper, which I know you heard about on the news, they were not revived because they couldn't Black Paper deactivated their alarms. Plus, Black Paper always rips off the ID badges of its kills."  
  
"Oh... I see."  
  
It was very simple.  
  
So, Black Paper put a hit out on Musashi, because he foiled their plans before. It turned out that they didn't kill him and captured him, instead. Thus, the incident with him and Aerin escaping, happened.  
  
"It's very understandable."  
  
So what did that mean? Not only did Musashi have Black Paper after him, he also had the Pioneer 2 government on him too?  
  
"This guy's got some issues."  
  
I had to find out what the incident with the military was. It could get me closer to location Musashi.  
  
I found myself at the apartment of KiX, in the yellowboze section.  
  
I knocked.  
  
"Is this KiX, a former friend of Musashi?"  
  
"Go away!"  
  
I knocked again.  
  
"This is Private Investigator Bryan Smith. I want to question you about Mu- "  
  
"I said, GO AWAY!"  
  
"Didn't you know Maria, too?"  
  
"Yeah, so what!? Just go!"  
  
"Man, if you don't help me, their going to kill her! Doesn't that mean anything to you!?"  
  
He went silent for a moment and cracked the door open.  
  
"Is that true? They found her?"  
  
"Yes. She's at the lab, right now."  
  
He looked away and then looked back at Bryan.  
  
"Fine, but i'm only doing it for Maria, NOT that a**hole Musashi."  
  
He didn't let me sit down, so I stood, turning on a recorder and breaking out my note taker.  
  
"What do you want to know?"  
  
"How do you know Musashi?"  
  
He sighed.  
  
"We were friends, a couple months back, for a while."  
  
"Really? Do you happen to know about the incident he had with the military?"  
  
"Oh... Is that all you want to know?"  
  
"It's one of the things I want to know."  
  
"Fine... The military was after him to do experiments on him. They wanted to find out if they could somehow copy the demon within him and use it to make super soldiers. Their fools, I tell you."  
  
"So, what was the 'incident'?"  
  
"Well, they were going to ask him to join them nicely, but naturally, Musashi just passed it up. A general rounded up some soldiers and the top ace in the military at the time, which happened to be Kojiro, to get Musashi. Musashi ended up escaping Kojiro and killing the whole force, including the general, with ease. He also did it with his bare hands."  
  
"Hmm... So that's why?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
KiX would continue to tell me of more important information, and I did write plenty of notes. I couldn't find Christyna at her apartment, so I decided to come back later.  
  
Back at my apartment, I sat down and planned to do the final compilation.  
  
"Rati... We're going to have to finish as much as we can, and fast. We don't have much more time."  
  
-Chapter 10 complete  
  
Chapter 11  
  
So, at this point, I knew why Musashi was gone, why his data in the Hunter's database was deleted, and why so much mystery surrounded this man.  
  
The military had suffered a great loss.  
  
KiX would explain it all.  
  
"You see, after Musashi killed them all, the military knew in their hearts that catching Musashi was too much of a hassle. So, Musashi and the Military came to a sort of secret agreement. The military would be forced to catch Musashi, either to arrest him for killing soldiers and a general or to catch him for their experiments. So, they let Musashi escape down to Ragol on accident so that they wouldn't have to try and catch him once more."  
  
I had stopped for a moment to digest this information.  
  
"So, what your saying is... They let Musashi go so they wouldn't have to find him? Then, while he was gone, they deleted his files, revoked his license, and pretended like nothing happened?"  
  
"Precisely."  
  
"Ok, now I have a second question..."  
  
I stopped the tape. I never thought the military could be capable of such foolishness. Why did they have to chase him around to do experiments on him? I would've done the same thing Musashi did. I would have ran.  
  
I flipped the tape back on and listened again.  
  
"I need to know about Maria, Rati," I muttered as I hit 'play'.  
  
"How did you know Maria?"  
  
He sighed and stopped, looking down. He finally looked back up at me.  
  
"Maria was a good friend of mine. She was very different, for an android. You know what I mean... The mass majority of those androids are like... You'll say something like 'Hi', and they're like 'Hi... Does not compute'. They're always serious all the time and crap... As for Maria, though... She looked so human, and she acted it, too. I never knew why, but it was like she had a soul."  
  
"I see... That's very interesting."  
  
"Yes, actually, yes it is. anyway, Maria and I were actually Musashi's only close personal friends. So, if anything needed to be known about him, it would come through both of us. We followed him around a lot, just so he never got in trouble. You know... Those two made me jealous, sometimes. I actually sort of fell for Maria... I know, it's sad, she's an android... But Maria and Musashi..."  
  
He stopped and continued after the short pause.  
  
"I remember one time... we were all down on Ragol, at night. They eventually stopped hunting and sat down, observing the moonlight. I was in the back, letting them stay alone. It was a side of Musashi I had never seen before, you know. It looked like he softened up to her... Like he actually cared about someone for once. Not only was I jealous that they had some sort of thing between them, I was also sort of jealous that my friend was only nice to a different person. For the record, that guy really was a jerk."  
  
"Yeah. I guessed as much."  
  
"Well, I guess you want me to get to the point. When did I last see the two? We were all together, eating lunch at a restaurant, when Musashi finally got serious with us and told us straight out."  
  
"I'm going to have to leave. They never caught me, and now i'm going to have to go down to Ragol for a while," He had said.  
  
"You know, that's when he explained everything to us. About the military, how he killed the soldiers... I didn't seem to mind as much as Maria did, but I still did care. He's been gone for 4 months, and all I wanted to do was forget him, man."  
  
"What about Maria? What about your last visit?"  
  
"After Musashi left... She wasn't the same... She was around me less and less until one day, she said she was going down to Ragol to find him... and that was the last I heard of her."  
  
I stopped the tape.  
  
I popped the first disk that Elly and Teem gave me into my computer and brang up a file.  
  
"She was found, in the Ruins, smashed to shreds. That must be why she was there! She was looking for Musashi and ended up in a strong place. She must have had some sort of super programming to harbor such human feelings as love and hate... She must have been in love with Musashi, that's what drove her there."  
  
And that's when I heard the knock.  
  
Aerin had come to give me some relief. It was the next day, anyway, and in my head, I counted out how much longer I had till it was too late.  
  
5 days  
  
"Aerin! Uh... I didn't expect to see you here."  
  
"Oh, and why not? I told you, didn't I? We're going to go and hang out again."  
  
And with that, I was 'TAKEN' to a restaurant.  
  
"Thanks for the break, Aerin... Hey, you remember that conversation we had about the whole 'dying' thing?"  
  
"Yeah? What about it?"  
  
"What about androids?"  
  
I had to know why Maria didn't end up getting teleported to the Pioneer 2 after she was killed in the Ruins. Why she was just to lay there and get mashed away by the monsters and then found later by a team of Hunters.  
  
"Well, with the androids, its a little different. You know how the alarm is located inside the Section ID badge?"  
  
"Yes, yes I do."  
  
"Well, the androids have it too, but they also all have serial numbers. These are like codes that exist in the hospital database. The alarm may activate, but it may not be accepted to teleport the android if there isn't a valid serial code. That's why it is so important for people that make androids to register their androids to all of the databases of the Pioneer 2."  
  
"I see..."  
  
I wondered if Musashi had made her from scratch and didn't give her a serial code or if maybe Maria deleted her serial code just so that the Pioneer 2 wouldn't teleport her back.  
  
"So... Are we just going to talk about stuff that has to do with your case? Come on, this is supposed to be a break."  
  
"That's right, ok... I'll lay off."  
  
She ordered us drinks and I stayed there for a long time. We talked a lot about stupid things, but also things so that we could get to know each other, a bit better.  
  
She's got to like me, I thought to myself.  
  
Always, in the back of my head, though, I thought.  
  
5 days left.  
  
-End of Chapter 11.  
  
chapter 12  
  
Musashi had been training down on Ragol the whole time he was banished from the Pioneer 2. Even so, he still took breaks and meditated. This was one such time.  
  
He sat on the floor, with his legs folded, and closed his eyes. He focused his mind and his soul onto complete peace, complete silence, and complete awareness. He felt like he was in a white room that contained nothing but himself and his thoughts.  
  
Suddenly, the light in the room shut off and he stood in complete darkness. He could see nothing but the black nothingness that infected his mind.  
  
"Who goes there?"  
  
That's when he appeared. In the darkness, only one thing lit up: A man that Musashi knew as General Sorson Tain.  
  
"General... What are you doing, here?"  
  
"Musashi... We need to discuss something important."  
  
He began to pace while he continued.  
  
"You have a new life now and in exchange for that, our military has a chance to live. Your new life is all you have now. Everything in your past life is gone and you cannot afford to go back. Is this correct?"  
  
Musashi regrettably responded with a 'yes'.  
  
"Your new life is going to be disrupted, soon."  
  
"And why is that, General? Have you forgotten our deal?"  
  
"Oh, don't get me wrong, it's not us who are doing it, Musashi. A man, formerly the Hunter Human, or HUmar, Thomas Quorvar, is looking for you. He is going to find you within the next couple of days. You don't want that, now do you?"  
  
"... Why is he trying to find me?"  
  
"He was hired to. He is a Private Investigator. We do not know why he was hired to find you, but he's going to find you none the less. If you see him, you kill him, or the deal is off."  
  
And with that, Musashi zoned back to reality and opened his eyes.  
  
"Thomas Quorvar..."  
  
*************************************  
  
General Sorson Tain took off the helmet and placed it to the side. He grinned, evilly, as he stood up.  
  
"Sir!" a soldier yelled out as he barged into the room.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
Sorson stepped down from the chair and walked over to the soldier that had entered.  
  
"We have located Bryan Smith's Apartment. Would you like us to proceed?"  
  
After a moment and a stroke to his beard, the general nodded.  
  
"Get out of uniform and only bring a squad of 5 soldiers with you. We're going to have to take this guy out as soon as possible. Do NOT fail this mission."  
  
The soldier saluted him and left the room.  
  
The general walked to the window of the mind-channeling room and looked outside of it, watching all of the hover-cars drive around below him.  
  
"I think your time is up, Thomas Quorvar."  
  
*********************************************  
  
"Rati, I think we have enough evidence. We know where Musashi is, why he is there, we know why Maria was all beat up. All we have to do is go down to Ragol and ask Musashi to come back."  
  
Rati began to squeak and beep.  
  
"Alright, I guess you're right. He wouldn't want to come back... But he could at least tell us something that could help us save Maria... What do you say we go finish our last task and visit Christyna?"  
  
Rati nodded and hopped on my shoulder. I threw on my trench coat and my matching brown hat. I also pocketted my bravace and grabbed the door handle. I turned the handle and opened the door only to be met by someone I didn't know, standing right outside the door.  
  
I was confused for a moment and wanted to ask them who they were or what they wanted. It all made sense when I caught a glimpse of 4 other guys surrounding my door and they all began to draw weapons.  
  
I slammed the door behind me and locked it. They began to smash into the door, trying to ram themselves in.  
  
"Open this door!" they screamed.  
  
I began to gather my notes and my disks. I put everything in my briefcase and also grabbed a couple of old rare-weapon capsules that contained some weapons I didn't use anymore, just in case. Right as they smashed through the door, I dove out the window and began plumetting downward, towards the pavement.  
  
The air from the fall made my trenchcoat nearly fall off and the sound of the wind in my ears was tremendous.  
  
It was a good thing I had some gadgets, though. I pulled a pin and a parachute came out of the back of my trenchcoat. I finally landed on the street, unhooking the parachute, and running towards my car.  
  
Two of the men stayed back in my apartment, but the other three were going to chase after me.  
  
I jumped into my hover car and dropped my suitcase. I started the car and drove off full speed, with heat in my tail.  
  
"This doesn't look too good, Rati!" I yelled out.  
  
-End of Chapter 12  
  
Chapter 13  
  
"General. Sargent Neffis is on line 2, for you."  
  
"Alright... I'll take it in my office."  
  
The general went into his office and quickly picked up the phone.  
  
"What do you want? Did you kill him already?"  
  
Neffis shook his head and closed his eyes as he began to speak.  
  
"No, general, but we're working on it."  
  
"Working on it!? What the hell does that mean?"  
  
"Well... We were going to break down his door... but right then, he opened it. It looked like he was going to leave."  
  
"Yes, yes, and!?"  
  
"Eh... Well, he closed the door and by the time we smashed through it, he had taken all of the things important to the case and dove out the window."  
  
"Did he die?"  
  
"No, sir, he had a parachute..."  
  
"A parachute... What next, then, you worthless little bastard?"  
  
"He got into his hovercar and zoomed off, but we have a tracker on it. We put it on as we were coming up to his apartment. I'm here with private Aldravv. Sargent Uuve took Privates Brandon and Salven with him and their chasing him now."  
  
"Alright, alright... what can I do to help?"  
  
"It would be a good idea if you were to send a few more units down after the tracking signal."  
  
"It's done."  
  
And with that, the general hung up.  
  
"Ok, Al. Let's get to work."  
  
*******************  
  
"Blast it, Rati, their gaining on us."  
  
With one hand on the wheel, I pulled out my bravace and turned my head around, aiming at one of the heads of my pursuers. I fired, but missed, turning back to watch the road.  
  
I noticed they were firing back when I saw photon bullets buzz past me and smash into the floor, scorching the pavement.  
  
I turned back around and aimed at the front of the hovercar. I fired and hit one of the headlights of the car. The car swerved and strafed, trying to gain control again.  
  
I turned back around with a grin on my face.  
  
"I got them!"  
  
That's when I noticed the other two cars in front of me.  
  
"Where'd they come from!?"  
  
They began to come to my sides to smash me in. They all drew their guns and pointed them at me.  
  
I gritted my teeth and realized what had to be done. I smashed my brakes with all my might and the two cars zoomed forward. I was soon hit by the previous car from behind. This sent my car flying forward at a fast speed.  
  
I struggled to gain control of my steering, but it was no good. The car was beginning to tip over. I jumped out of the car, blasting away at the nearest car. I hit it in some vital places, causing it to explode. I dug deep into the pavement and rolled to a stop.  
  
I slowly stood up, holding the streetlight for support. The two remaining cars were coming back around for me.  
  
I ran back over to my car and tried to pick it back up but it was too heavy. Intead, I grabbed my briefcase and ran for it.  
  
I lost them while running in alleyways. I stopped for a moment to catch my breath.  
  
Crap. What now?  
  
When I walked out of the alleyway, I wasn't surprised to see one of the cars again. They didn't see me, so I ducked down and pulled out my bravace. I aimed at the driver and fired off a blast that stunned him enough to send the car flying off into oblivion.  
  
The final car was right behind me.  
  
"Freeze! Drop your weapon!"  
  
I put my hands up and dropped the bravace.  
  
"Turn around and put your hands behind your head! Drop that briefcase, too!"  
  
They watched as I kneeled down and lay on the pavement, both hands behind my back.  
  
I heard them talking in a low voice.  
  
"We can't kill him here... there's too many people around."  
  
"You're right. Let's bring him to the general."  
  
And with that, they knocked me out cold.  
  
***********************  
  
"Where is he at? Everyday, this feeling gets worse inside of me, Teem. I see this android and I can't stand to think of her dying. She seems too important to die."  
  
Teem turned around to see Elly in tears.  
  
"What if he stopped?"  
  
"No... He wouldn't. He's a friend of mine, and has been for some time. He cares too much for me... and maybe even for Maria... to just give up."  
  
"Miss Elly! Miss Elly... Don't cry!"  
  
Maria ran up to her.  
  
"What is wrong with you? Why do you cry?"  
  
Elly looked away to cover her tears up.  
  
"No reason, Maria. No reason at all."  
  
"Then, stop crying, please. If logic cannot explain why you must cry, then there is no need to cry, correct?"  
  
Elly nodded.  
  
Wow... Elly just gets waaaayy too emotional for all this technology. Teem thought to himself, turning around back to his work.  
  
"Don't worry, Maria. She's fine. Just go rest... Better yet, take Elly with you."  
  
Because I can't take much more of this crap  
  
-Chapter 13 Complete  
  
Chapter 14  
  
"-ve his file yet?"  
  
"Yes, sir, i'm printing it right now."  
  
"Get on with it, then, you fool."  
  
After a moment, the speaking began again.  
  
"I see... So he's two people... This guy has some problems, now doesn't he?"  
  
"It appears so, sir."  
  
"Are you getting smart with me sargent?"  
  
"No, sir. No I'm not."  
  
"Sir! It seems like he's awake!"  
  
A bright flash... all I could see was a bright white light... and, after a moment, I finally realized what it really was.  
  
I turned my head and blinked a few more times. The room focused into view and I saw several soldiers before me. I tried to move but I was tied to a chair; my feet were bound to the two front chair legs and my hands were bound around behind the chair.  
  
"So, Mr. Smith, or should I say, Mr. Quorvar. It seems like you've been spared."  
  
"Sp... Spared?"  
  
It was hard to speak. I was still just barely waking up.  
  
"We were going to kill you, but since you killed 6 of our soldiers, you were spared. My soldiers couldn't kill you in front of a bunch of civilians, so they brought you back to me."  
  
The older soldier was sitting right in front of me. He stood up and walked to a window and looked out of it while he continued.  
  
"Now, I can't have someone who is so skilled in battle to just be killed just like that, now can I? Instead, I have thought of another plan. I'm going to just ask you once and that is it."  
  
He turned around and faced me once more.  
  
"Get off this case before you die right here in this room. You're in way too deep and I can easily dig you out of this hole if you just stop trying to find Musashi and go about your life like this case never existed."  
  
I stopped and began to ponder. How long had I been knocked out? Was it too late, or was there still a chance for Maria?  
  
"I... I can't do that."  
  
The general sighed and motioned to his soldiers. One by one they piled out of the office and the last closed the door behind him. The general sat in front of me and looked straight into my eyes.  
  
"So, you're going to tell me that you'd rather die, right here, in this room, than just leave here a free man and forget about people you don't even know? What if you do find Musashi and he doesn't agree to come with you or whatever you want to do with him? Wouldn't it all just be a waste of your time? A loss of money?"  
  
"If I can save someone's life, then I'd rather take that risk."  
  
He stood up and walked over to his desk, picking up a folder.  
  
"All of a sudden, now you care lives?"  
  
He turned back toward me and dropped the folder on the chair before me.  
  
"What about that, huh? What about your old life? What about Thomas Quorvar?"  
  
I shook my head and closed my eyes.  
  
"There is no more Thomas Quorvar!"  
  
"Oh, yes there is. He's sitting before me. Let me read you what it says here."  
  
He picked up the folder and began to read.  
  
"Name: Thomas Quorvar. Section ID: Purplenum. Age: 22. Class: HUmar. He had a brother, Brandon Quorvar, HUmar, Skyly, but it seems like Brandon is no longer with us."  
  
"STOP THIS!"  
  
"Shut up, you fool!"  
  
The general pulled out a pistol and put it to my head.  
  
"LISTEN AND REMEMBER! Thomas was a respected Hunter. He helped the needy, he defected the evil, and he earned a bit of money on the side. He was out with his brother in the forest one day and he was caught up in a battle. His brother was too weak to fight there, and Thomas was going to protect him. They were both surrounded. The monsters held Thomas back as he could only watch his brother get killed and then litterally torn to shreds by the monsters. Thomas then technically died that day, but he didn't."  
  
I was breathing heavily. I was furious and tears began to stream down my cheeks.  
  
"Black Paper was there and the hospital couldn't transport your brother up. Their jammers kept him down on Ragol to get torn up, destroyed, and cut up to pieces. You didn't know that, did you? Well, Thomas Quorvar died, and Bryan Smith was born, all of a sudden, at the age of 23. He didn't care about anyone, all he cared about was money. And here he is now, not quote Bryan Smith, and not Quite Thomas Quorvar. Who is this that sitting here? Which one is it?"  
  
I couldn't speak.  
  
"Yeah, that's what I thought. You're going to die in a couple of hours so sit here and think about what you have done, little boy."  
  
With that the general stormed out of the room and slammed the door. I heard him speaking to two soldiers.  
  
"I want you two worthless bastards to watch him and don't let him get out! One of you inside and one of you out here! If you let him out i'll kill you myself!"  
  
The door opened and closed once more and I heard a voice whispering into my ear.  
  
"Bryan... Don't be startled, but i'm not a soldier."  
  
"Who...Who are you, then?"  
  
I looked up and saw a man i've never seen before. Who was he?  
  
"I've been hired to get you out."  
  
"What? How can that be? Who knows i'm in here?"  
  
"You've been in here for about a day now. A girl named Aerin notified Elly and she hired me to get you out."  
  
Aerin... She really did like me, after all.  
  
"What's your name, then?"  
  
"Well... It's Logical2u."  
  
What the hell kind of name was that?  
  
"What the hell kind of name is that? Is that some sort of alias."  
  
"Come on, man, i'm here to help you. Don't go criticizing my name like that."  
  
"Alright, sorry. Just get me out of here."  
  
He untied me... It was time to get out.  
  
-End of Chapter 14  
  
Chapter 15  
  
The guard was having a great day. His wife was pregnant with their first child, he had a great apartment, he had a good hover car, more than enough money to get him through life, and he had good friends. He stood in front of the door with a great big smile as he reminisced over his 'perfect' life.  
  
Suddenly, though, he fell, unconscious. Logical2u grabbed the body and dragged it into the room.  
  
We left the room cautiously. Logical had taken care of the guard in front of the door.  
  
"Those are some good moves you got there, Logical."  
  
"Hey, keep it down, will ya? We're gonna get caught!"  
  
you're the one shouting... I thought to myself.  
  
He proceeded from the room and into the hall. He stopped and looked down the hall at some guards.  
  
"We got bogeys ahead of us. We'll have to go another way."  
  
"Bogeys? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"  
  
"...Guards, man. Haven't you ever seen those movies with the fighter pilots?"  
  
"Yeah, man, but we're not fighter pilots."  
  
For a second he looked down and turned back to me.  
  
"I guess you're right."  
  
"Ok, look, we have another objective here, you know."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well... My stuff. I need it."  
  
"You're stuff? Is your 'stuff' more important than your life?"  
  
"Of course not, man. BUT, you see... it's all of my materials and research i've been doing on this case. Everything i've done for this case and even more is in one of these rooms."  
  
He sighed.  
  
"Alright, alright. We'll get your stuff. I saw them taking it all into this one room... So, here's the plan. You go and hide in that closet over there," He said, pointing at one of the closets," and I'll go grab all your stuff. Sound simple enough?"  
  
I nodded. I ran to the closet door and went inside. I sat there and waited. At first, I thought, well, he's just mingling his way through the crowd... he'll be back shortly.  
  
After a long while, I realized that I was alone... and he was not coming back.  
  
I slowly opened the door and peeked out. There were no guards.  
  
I emerged slowly and crept over back to the wall we hid behind again.  
  
Crap... Now what!? Which one of these rooms is he in!?  
  
I walked over to a room, careful not to alert anyone, and cracked it open. It seemed like a locker room of some sort.  
  
"Bingo..." I muttered quietly.  
  
I entered the room Bryan Smith and exited the room a soldier.  
  
I checked the weapon in the holster of the suit.  
  
"A lockgun? Dang... I'll just have to make use of what I got here."  
  
I left the room and walked over to another room, casually. It was the bathroom. I felt stupid because I didn't even look up to see the picture of the guy and the 'men' above such.  
  
I stood back into the hall and looked around.  
  
"I'm freaking lost!"  
  
Well, I jinxed my 'lost' status when I heard punching and yelling of some sort in a closeby room. I walked over to it and cracked the door open.  
  
There's all of my stuff! I thought, smiling. After that, I then also realized I found something else I lost. Logical2u was in the room getting smashed up by a bunch of soldiers.  
  
"You wanna try and steal things from the seven comets, huh? This is what happens when you come into our territory!"  
  
I burst into the room and came in tackling. There were three soldiers at the time: Two were beating up Logical2u and the third was stand over him shouting stupid coments. He seemed to lead the little group. Turns out that I ended up tackling that guy. The other two were shocked to see a soldier burst into the room and tackle the leader. One of the two soldiers was even more shocked when the door that I burst open crashed into him and sent him flying into the wall.  
  
I started punching wildly at the leader's face. The remaining soldier was terrified. He backed away at the onslaught and ran out of the room.  
  
After the leader's face was nothing more than a bloody pulp, I stood up, picking him up, and threw him backwards. He cut through the air and was crushed by the hall's wall outside the room. I helped Logical2u up.  
  
"Sorry I was late, man. Let's hurry up and get out of here!"  
  
We gathered up all of my things and was relieved to see Rati unharmed.  
  
"Rati! Are you alright?"  
  
Logical looked confused.  
  
"Rati? Where?"  
  
"Right here! Don't you see him?"  
  
I picked up my mag and began to pet him.  
  
"That's Rati? I don't get it..."  
  
"What do you mean, you don't get it?"  
  
"Well... I've never seen a Nidra mag named Rati before."  
  
Nidra?  
  
"Nidra? You're telling me all this time I thought my mag was Rati and it's actually nidra?"  
  
"Yeah, man. You see... Nidra, what you have, actually looks like some sort of scorpion. As for Rati, it looks like some sort of pair of wings."  
  
"Oh... I see."  
  
I felt stupid at that point, but not matter. We were out of that room fast. We stealthfully nearly left the place. We were actually at the door to leave. Right when we were about to open it, it opened itself. That insane general himself was standing there himself with a couple other soldiers.  
  
"Sh**."  
  
-End of Chapter 15  
  
Chapter 16  
  
It was shocking, really. All 5 of us stood there for a while, not even moving, just staring at each other.  
  
Finally, at the same time, Logical and one of the soldiers drew their weapons. With a flash, the soldier went falling back with a hole through his gut.  
  
That snapped me out of the trance. I jumped through the air and kicked the other soldier in the face. He fell on the floor, knocked out.  
  
The general had the two soldiers in front of him, so after we had cleared the two soldiers, I was standing beside him and Logical was before him point the gun between his eyes. Logical was surprised when the general pulled out a gladius, ignited, and grabbed me, with the photon blade at my throat.  
  
It happened so fast, we didn't know what was happening.  
  
"What, you think you can just come in here, raid my unit, and get away with it? You think i'm just some old weak general? Lemmie tell you somethin, boy, I got more battle experience than you'll ever have!"  
  
Logical glared at him.  
  
"Just let him go. You're chances of benefitting from this situation are slim."  
  
He laughed aloud and began to speak once more.  
  
"What do you mean!? Do you even care about your little friend here!? Do you want his throat to be cut!?"  
  
Logical2u snickered.  
  
"Look, old man. I just don't want to have to hurt you, that's all. You look like you're important and I wouldn't want to have to kill someone who means something in a place like this."  
  
He smirked.  
  
"Oh, really? Is that so? You think you're little friendly explanation is going to let your friend go? Well, you're wrong."  
  
At that point, I had had enough of this old crazy fool. I started to reach for my bravace in my pocket.  
  
I looked over to Logical and nodded, slightly. I hope he knows what I mean. I had to buy a bit more time while I went for my weapon. He had to also distract him so he didn't realize what was going on.  
  
"I'm wrong, huh? Is that what you think?"  
  
"Yes! In a matter of seconds, my soldiers will be here shortly and both of you will be killed! There's no hope for you two now!"  
  
He began to laugh aloud. I felt it gratifying that I had got my bravace at that point. I pulled it out and aimed it at his left hip. The photon bullet ripped through flesh, bone, and muscle alike. He fell back screaming and dropped the gladius.  
  
We were out of there like there was no tomorrow.  
  
***************************************************  
  
She actually hugged me right there and then. I thought in my head that she would have wanted to kiss me but she had her whole family all around her and plus, I only knew her for about a week then.  
  
"Aerin... How many days do I have left?"  
  
She shook her head, looking very disappointed, and sighed.  
  
"Only three days left, and this one's almost up."  
  
"I see... Well, we're going to have find Musashi very soon."  
  
I went on to finally meet Aerin's 'family.'  
  
"It's nice to meet you, Bryan. I am Kento, Aerin's sister."  
  
"It's great to meet you, too."  
  
Kento was not as tall as Bryan. He had red hair and purple eyes. He seemed like a very gentle person.  
  
"Bryan, huh? Well, i'm Sanosuke."  
  
"Nice to meet you."  
  
Sanosuke, on the other hand, was taller than Bryan. He looked like he could smash his way through a brick wall with his palms and laugh about it.  
  
I would go on to also meet two women. One was named Nobooru and claimed to be both Kento and Aerin's sibling. She seemed very nice but Aerin had told me before that she could get a bit crabby.  
  
The second woman that I met was named Demi. She seemed a bit hyper when he met her and she matched the description that Aerin had given Bryan.  
  
Later, when everyone was asleep, Aerin and I were out, late, standing on the balcony.  
  
"It's a great family you have, Aerin."  
  
She smiled and nodded.  
  
"Yep. We're a family, if you could call us that. I'm glad you like them."  
  
She snuggled up against me as we looked out in the far reaches of the pioneer 2.  
  
I couldn't help thinking, though.  
  
2 days  
  
-Chapter 16 complete 


End file.
